Kidney Transplant

My father is in need of a new kidney and it seems that there are no related individuals who can donate their kidney to him due to unmatched blood types or deceased family members. I sent an email to Bumrungrad Hospital and they got back to me with the following information;

"Medico-Legal Requirements:

Bumrungrad International has the capability, highly experienced specialists and facilities to perform kidney transplants. Thailand has a medico-legal process in place to regulate organ transplants. The donor requirements are as follows:

· The donor is required to have blood relations with the patient (blood-related relative)

· The donor is required to be 20-50 years old

· The donor needs an official letter from the Embassy of the patient's country of citizenship or Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating the blood relationship

· Obtaining donor organs from unrelated individuals is not lawful in Thailand

If the patient has no matched donor with the qualification above, kindly be informed that kidney transplant for the patient cannot be performed here at Bumrungrad International Hospital."

First of all this shocked me to find out that unrelated individuals cannot donate their kidney in Thailand. WOW. So the next course of action is to find out what countries do allow unrelated individuals to donate and transplant. After some google searches I came up with Iran as a possibility. I just wanted to see if anyone of the forum members have had any experience with this kind of situation and are able to advise as to the best course of action and what other countries might be a possibility.

First of all this shocked me to find out that unrelated individuals cannot donate their kidney in Thailand. WOW. So the next course of action is to find out what countries do allow unrelated individuals to donate and transplant. After some google searches I came up with Iran as a possibility. I just wanted to see if anyone of the forum members have had any experience with this kind of situation and are able to advise as to the best course of action and what other countries might be a possibility.

illegal (lots of scandals) in India but possible. another option and much more affordable than India is China where some "regulations" are "followed" only since 2006. according to an information (dated 2008) in Shanghai alone a dozen hospitals exist which specialise in organ transplants.

The reason Thailand bans non-related kidney donations are scandals involving kidney trafficking 10-15 years ago. You can read about it all here: Regulation of organ transplantation in Thailand: Does it Work? There's no doubt Thailand has to get its act together and develop some regulations that prevent trafficking, but also facilitate donation. One requirement in the U.S. is that the donor undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to donation. There probably aren't enough psychiatrists in Thailand, but the donation rate in Thailand has actually been declining, at the same time that many of the previous barriers to transplantation are being broken (less exact matches can be transplanted because of improvement of anti-rejection drugs).

I donated a kidney to my father about 12 years ago. It was done in the U.S., but I traveled about 3000 miles for the procedure. I don't know anything about Iran's medical care system. My understanding is that India has a fairly good healthcare system, does a lot of medical tourism, and allows non-related donor transplants. Why risk going to Iran, when India probably offers a better alternative? I would get the transplant done at the best hospital possible. Of course, cost and insurance coverage are big factors in the decision. The hospital where I donated a kidney does 150 transplants a month and has the highest success rate worldwide. There were 6 other live organ transplants going on at the same time as mine.

I wish you the best of luck.

let me add that organ transplants are illegal in India when the donor is financially compensated. transplants per se with organs from non-related persons are not illegal.

Are they? You may know your gold Naam, but maybe you should leave the law to lawyers.http://www.aarexindia.com/kidney.asp (non-related kidney donation permitted with authorization by government that no commercial transaction is involved - this means no compensation from the recipient to the donor, not no compensation to the doctor/hospital for the procedure).

I know from experience that unrelated donors are perfectly acceptable in the US. Not only that, but over the years I have counseled numerous people who were blind donors, willing to give a kidney to someone they did not know previously. It is illegal to accept money for an organ donation in the US and the hospitals are very vigilant to see this is not violated. So the short and easy answer to your question is that the procedure is legal, available and well advanced in numerous US hospitals which will allow non related donors within legal and ethical guidelines.

I dont know for sure, but usually Canada has pretty similar ethical regulations for medical service so they would be a candidate as well. I also know that Mexico and Philippines are often considered but the trafficking that caused Thailand such grief is probably endemic in those countries as well.

First off thank you all for your responses and sorry for my late reply. I had checked the box 'Notify me of replies via email' but I didn't receive even 1 notification. My Dad is currently in India and it seems that recently they have made it illegal to accept 3rd party donations due to the same reason it is not legal in Thailand. I will be looking into China and Philippines as viable options.

let me add that organ transplants are illegal in India when the donor is financially compensated. transplants per se with organs from non-related persons are not illegal.

Naam thank you for your information but as I mentioned my Dad is currently in India and says that it is no longer legal to accept donations from non-related persons. However I will be looking into this option too by sending emails to individual hospitals to see what they say. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

The reason Thailand bans non-related kidney donations are scandals involving kidney trafficking 10-15 years ago. You can read about it all here: Regulation of organ transplantation in Thailand: Does it Work? There's no doubt Thailand has to get its act together and develop some regulations that prevent trafficking, but also facilitate donation. One requirement in the U.S. is that the donor undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to donation. There probably aren't enough psychiatrists in Thailand, but the donation rate in Thailand has actually been declining, at the same time that many of the previous barriers to transplantation are being broken (less exact matches can be transplanted because of improvement of anti-rejection drugs).

I donated a kidney to my father about 12 years ago. It was done in the U.S., but I traveled about 3000 miles for the procedure. I don't know anything about Iran's medical care system. My understanding is that India has a fairly good healthcare system, does a lot of medical tourism, and allows non-related donor transplants. Why risk going to Iran, when India probably offers a better alternative? I would get the transplant done at the best hospital possible. Of course, cost and insurance coverage are big factors in the decision. The hospital where I donated a kidney does 150 transplants a month and has the highest success rate worldwide. There were 6 other live organ transplants going on at the same time as mine.

I wish you the best of luck.

let me add that organ transplants are illegal in India when the donor is financially compensated. transplants per se with organs from non-related persons are not illegal.

Are they? You may know your gold Naam, but maybe you should leave the law to lawyers.http://www.aarexindia.com/kidney.asp (non-related kidney donation permitted with authorization by government that no commercial transaction is involved - this means no compensation from the recipient to the donor, not no compensation to the doctor/hospital for the procedure).

zaphodbeeblebrox thank you as well for a very informative answer and the link. I have forwarded the link to my Dad and will also be contacting them directly to find out what the deal is. US could be an option but considering how difficult it is to get visa's and what not to go there it might not be the best solution in this case. Thanks again for taking the time.

I know from experience that unrelated donors are perfectly acceptable in the US. Not only that, but over the years I have counseled numerous people who were blind donors, willing to give a kidney to someone they did not know previously. It is illegal to accept money for an organ donation in the US and the hospitals are very vigilant to see this is not violated. So the short and easy answer to your question is that the procedure is legal, available and well advanced in numerous US hospitals which will allow non related donors within legal and ethical guidelines.

I dont know for sure, but usually Canada has pretty similar ethical regulations for medical service so they would be a candidate as well. I also know that Mexico and Philippines are often considered but the trafficking that caused Thailand such grief is probably endemic in those countries as well.

If you have any questions on the US process, feel free to PM me.

xbusman thanks for your response. I was under the impression that the US had a long waiting list but as I mentioned in response to zaphodbeeblebrox's post getting visa to the US is not the easiest thing to do so we will have to pass on this option for the moment. I think I will focus on Asia for the moment and see if I can find a solution. As per the responses I need to do further research about China and Philippines. Thanks again for taking the time. Cheers.